The coalition government is attempting to use ‘National Apprenticeship Week’ as a means of drumming up more interest among employers in offering taxpayer-backed apprenticeship schemes.
At the official launch event at Channel 4’s offices in London today, Business Secretary Vince Cable kicked off more than 500 events across the country, which are intended to celebrate the achievements of apprentices and their employers.
He said: “Apprenticeships are at the centre of the government’s skills policy because we know that they work. Not only do they provide individuals with the skills they need for prosperous and rewarding careers, they also boost businesses’ profits and drive growth in the wider economy.”
But a recent survey from the British Chambers of Commerce revealed that only a minority (20%) of businesses took on apprentices between March 2010 and April 2011. This is despite figures released by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which show a 140% rise to 442,700 in the number of on-the-job training places over the last four years.
A report from the National Audit Office, which was published last week, also warned that existing apprenticeship schemes had to start providing better value for money by raising standards if the UK was to remain competitive with its European rivals.
At today’s event, however, Skillset, sector skills council for the creative industries, and the National Apprenticeship Service jointly pledged to help create 500 new apprenticeship places from September at 300 businesses in the fashion, media and design industries
Many are expected to be small firms, which from next week will be able to apply for an incentive payment of £1,500 to take on their first apprentice in 2012/13.
New apprenticeship places
But large employers such as Starbucks, Aldi, BAE Systems, Siemens, Hilton Hotels and McDonalds also took advantage of the PR opportunity afforded by National Apprenticeship Week to launch their own initiatives.
Starbucks unveiled its first UK scheme which, from spring onwards, will see the coffee chain provide up to 45 places per month over the year ahead. The initiative will be open to over 16-year-olds, who will receive 12 months of classroom-based and on-the-job training to develop barista and customer service skills.
Supermarket chain Aldi also said that it plans to take on 405 apprentices for the first time this year too. Hilton Hotels is following suit, with plans to recruit 150 apprentices into its newly creating Chef Apprenticeship Academy, while McDonalds will take on another 250 this year on top of the 11,000 that have already completed its programme.
The aim of defence giant BAE Systems, meanwhile, is to create 265 new positions, while engineering firm Siemens intends to add 150 to its existing intake as part of an ongoing commitment to vocational training. Of these places, 50 will be higher apprenticeships, which are targeted at school leavers with A-levels.
But research published by Semta, the sector skills council for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies, indicated that engineering companies in the north of England were providing many more apprenticeships than firms in other areas of the country – as well as taking on a lot more over 25 year olds.
The study showed that about a quarter of northern employers in this sector chose to go down the apprenticeship route compared with a national average of 17%. Moreover, nearly half of all engineering places for the over 25s were based in the north compared with 34% in the south and 17% in the Midlands.
Nonetheless, the engineering and manufacturing industries will need to recruit 82,000 scientists, engineers and technologists over the next four years if they do not want to have a skills deficit, the study added.
Apprenticeship guide
**** The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has published a guide entitled ‘Apprenticeships that Work’. The document was developed by a working group, which included representatives from Rolls Royce, Capgemini, Marks & Spencer, West Sussex Council, unions, the National Apprenticeship Service and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
But the CIPD warned that quality was key when running such schemes and that apprenticeships would fail to meet employer expectations unless:
- They are embedded as part of a workforce planning approach and as part of a long-term strategy on workforce growth and skills development
- The role that apprentices play in the organisation and how they are to be supported, particularly by their line manager, is made clear
- Employers secure the support of the existing workforce, which includes senior and line mangers as well as trade unions
- The training that apprentices receive on- and off-the-job is high-quality and tailored to their employers’ needs
- Relationships with training providers are carefully managed
- Alternative and more informal recruitment methods are also taken into consideration, especially when likely candidates are very young and have no prior work experience
- Employers understand the legal framework
- Apprentices are placed at the heart of these programme and employers provide ongoing support, pastoral care and mentoring
- Employers provide fair access to their apprenticeships schemes and widen the talent pool from which they recruit in terms of gender, ethnicity and diversity.
